The Case for a Space Party

The Case for a Space Party

Humans are supposed to be explorers. So let's explore space. God did not put all that up there just to ignore.

It is real estate. And unlike real estate development on Earth which bulldozes trees and wipes out species, this will not happen on currently dead lifeless worlds (planets, moons and asteroids).

When was the last time the United States added a state? We have stopped growing. You can debate whether that is healthy or not but we have stopped adding states. [Voluntarily, not forced like the native Hawaiians. Purchase makes more sense]

The world is overpopulated and the population is exploding. Let's sponsor or at least encourage SCG's (space colonization groups), Does anyone besides the Space Party have a peaceful and ethical solution that does not involve genocide, deliberate withholding of food from famine-stricken areas, war or forced sterilization? No.

If the term colonization smacks of imperialism to some, then substitute "space habitats" or whatever politically correct term pleases you. You probably are not going to be helping with space settlement anyway.

The Space Party categorically supports the rapid growth of the space tourism industry because tourism encourages world peace.

The Space Party is against the militarization of space because of Kessler syndrome.

The Space Party supports job creation by space entrepreneurs. The old aerospace companies only produce jobs by encouraging wars, weapons. and nuclear proliferation.

The Space Party supports private property rights in space. The party is anti-communist but it is also anti-fascist. Both aberrations are different flavors of socialism. International and national socialism respectively.

The Space Party supports the goals of the Lunar Society.

The Space Party supports the goals of the Mars Society. Moreover, we support the greening of Mars and then the bluing of Mars (oceans).

The Space Party supports manned interstellar spaceflight projects.

The Space Party supports manned intergalactic travel (IGT) projects.

The Space Party also supports any scientific research and engineering development that aims to go deeper into space than IGT. This strong support is motivated by reasons of international security, Solar System security, galactic security, species survival in the most extreme of situations, freedom, advancement of human civilization to the next level, scientific discovery, spiritual quest (religion if you prefer), and vision. In the heart of every man and woman beats a longing to be out there among the galaxies. Not limited to the stars. NASA's premature plans to retire the Hubble Space Telescope and the outcry and righteous indignation of the public proved this.

The Space Party believes that the United Nations has an obligation to prepare for threats to Earth such as coronal mass ejections, Earth resonant asteroids (planet killers), and a solar nova -- which might require evacuation to Mars or even Triton, the largest moon of Neptune. We got our wakeup call when Jupiter was struck by a comet on live TV. Currently Saturn has a massive lightning storm we can see from Earth.

The Space Party is against active SETI. Earth has no defense against hostile extraterrestrials. Our own history has proven that even indifferent or benevolent explorers destroy indigenous cultures just by showing up. The Space Party is not against First Contact but it is against "Worst Contact" when we are not ready and our collective pants are down. We need IGT yesterday.

Do you really think any Republican or Democrat polician even knows what we are talking about? We have talked to average Joes or Jolenes and office workers and factory workers who have no problem comprehending our program. But our politicians in Washington are so small-minded that they think everyone is as stupid, evil and crazy as them. The universe is infinite. Yes it is awesome but as adults we have to get on with the nuts and bolts of starting space companies, getting space jobs, getting space education for our children, and most of all, making sure that we can face our grandchildren. If we keeps our heads in the sand, then we can expect another Pearl Harbor when "they" show up. We have to put our collective foot on the accelerator because we are making up for the fact that politicians have had their foot on the brake.

The Space Party wants NASA and all government space programs (GSP's) out of space and out of our way. The reason we don't have colonies on the moon and Mars already is because these tax-supported parasites have gotten in the way. NASA is good when it sticks to unmanned spaceflight but downright evil when it intrudes into manned spaceflight. Not long after the Wright Brothers flight, the world had airlines but half a century after Yuri Gagarin, we are still waiting on spacelines.

Space tourism is not enough. We need towns and cities out there where people live permanently not just visitng space resorts for a few days. That will generate jobs.

If the United Nations cannot move quickly enough, then it too should get out of the way and allow consortia to terraform planets, moons and asteroids. We should not be held hostage to nations that because of lack of vision have not bothered to invest in space.

The Space Party supports any project that aims to establish farms, ranches, forests, fisheries, aquaculture and oceans on other worlds.

The Space Party supports any space mining except where this would mar the beauty of a world (witness the decapitation of mountains in West Virginia) or where a large asteroid would be so hollowed out that it ceased to have sufficient gravity for colonists. This would make it impossible to hold down any breathable atmosphere created by terraforming for colonists. The Space Party seeks the creation of Earth-like worlds. Biospheres under domes make sense only in places like Pluto where terraforming reaches its limit.

The Space Party supports the movement of industry into space not to escape environmental regulations (recycling and not wasting by products makes more sense) but simply to save the Earth and grow the space industry.

The Space Party believes that multiplanetary corporations should receive deep tax breaks and tax incentives to encourage financial risk taking since space is a risk.

The Space Party believes that multistellar corporations should pay no taxes at all since they take the biggest risks. If government wants to play a role, then it should underwrite FTL (faster than light) research and give tax incentives to individuals and institutions who underwrite development of starships.

The Space Party believes that not one penny of taxes should go to support IGT research and development since government would muck it up and slow progress to a halt. By the same token, since no taxes will go to support IGT, Draconian laws should punish government officials and government agents who interfere with the IGT project. The rationale is, of course, the importance and urgency of the project which will proceed independently of cislunar, interplanetary and interstellar projects. Interference with or slowing down the IGT project should be regarded as tantamount to treason and betrayal of the survival of the human race.

We are not just a bunch of businessmen and women. The Space Party also supports space arts and space humanities because quality of life is as important as quantity.

The matter of going deeper into space than just nearby galaxies in the Local Group (such as Andromeda, Triangulum. Wolf-Lundmark, etc.) raised by party platform plank #14 above raises more than the nine areas listed there. And the financing of such is a challenge but a solvable challenge that goes beyond tax incentives. The Space Party admits that we have no current policy to deal with this particular cosmic issue but we do know that financial engineers, economists and social entrepreneurs are most likely to come up with usable ideas. If a civilization far more advanced than us tries to dictate our future, they may find homo sapiens a scrappier species than they bargained on. And by advanced, we mean a hundred, a thousand or even a million years technically more advanced. We as humans must know that "failure is not an option."

Strategy

We accept that we will be viewed by the media as a bunch of Trekkies or "space cases" up until our members start establishing major corporations, buying media advertising, and getting members elected to office. In the meantime, party organizers need to be media savvy and understand public relations.

We need to attract both small individual donors as well as major large donors -- as long as these accept our party platform. We do not need a fat cat beholden to the old aerospace dinosaurs to twist our ideology and turn us away from our goals. It would be better to turn down their money than be corrupted.

Tactics

We can take a page from the Republicans and Democrats and punish (legally) those who ridicule us for having vision. This is realpolitik.

Buy up media. Not just air time. Buy the networks.

Don't just sit around waiting for millionaires and billionaires to donate to the party. Create them. Sponsor regular space entrepreneur workshops to help future space entrepreneurs develop business plans and find angels.

Develop strong ties to the International Space University and other space colleges until the alumni automatically gravitate to the Space Party.

Develop ties to SEDS (students for the exploration and development of space)

Develop strong ties to the International Association of Space Entrepreneurs.

Develop strong ties to the space business round tables,

Develop strong ties to all the major space foundations

Avoid the National Space Society. They are just NASA cheerleaders and will never be more than that even though the debt and deficit crisis is sinking NASA's ship. Think of it as revenge of the nerds (the L5 Society members thrown under the bus when the two groups merged).

Get rich. Or at least get a raise at work. Space is expensive.

Broaden the membership to include those interested in astronomy, space medicine, space law (treaties), astrolaw (mostly tort law in orbit), metalaw (relations with ET's), space architecture, space accounting, space finance, space banking, space insurance, space psychology, space sociology, space anthropology, the space trades (space technology in factories), space real estate, space art, space movies, space music, space fiction (not always a subset of Science Fiction), space sports, space nonfiction, space education, space dance (it may surprise you to know that at least one ballet troupe wants to go into orbit), space geography & space maps, space geology (get up to speed on Helium 3), space weather (everything from sunspots and meteor showers to that lightning storm on Saturn and seasons on Mars), space agriculture (quite a few farmers would like to farm out there), space mathematics, space forestry, hydroponics, et cetera. There is no such thing as a field that does not have a space variant. We challenge you to find one.

Nixon had the right idea when he came up with cowboys for Nixon, athletes for Nixon, dog catchers for Nixon etc. it got him elected.

Never mind that junior high students cannot vote. What they can do is get older and register to vote. Start at an earlier age than other parties are willing to go. Crib and prenatal if you can manage it! Not totally joking.

Don't overlook seniors. They vote and old people go into space too. Don't overlook any demographic.

Schmooze at church, temple, synagogue, shul, mosque and other house of worship.

Use lunch hour to talk to co-workers.

Shoot the breeze at parties, bars, football tailgate parties, fishing trips, the beach and wherever people have their minds uncluttered and are eager to talk about blue sky and possibilities. The Space Party's strength will derive from its ability to recapture the American can-do spirit sadly lost by Republicans who are constantly talking about limits while hypocritically criticizing the Club of Rome for suggesting that the world is finite. Last time we checked, the Earth is not Jupiter. It is only so big. This is exactly why we focus on space because space has no limits.

Organize your fellow college students into Space Party chapters. This will pay off both financially and politically. And perhaps in other ways. You might meet your spouse at a Space Party event.

Use the time you are flat on your back in the hospital to talk to other patients about the Space Party. Try not to annoy them. Instead distract them from any pain they may be in.

Know what you are talking about. Don't talk FTL with a physicist unless you have a degree in physics. Stick to policy and platform where common sense rules. There are space issues that affect you and the person you are recruiting to the party and no one in Washington is really addressing those issues because NASA has, is, and will always be a political football. Which is why it needs to go and be replaced by the private and third sectors. The public sector has blown its chance to be useful in space. You don't need a PhD to know that you want to travel among the galaxies. You only need cussed determination to get there anyway you can.

Avoid the UFO crowd. It is possible that they really were abducted by aliens (the space kind) but more likely they just have mental illness issues. If you think they may vote the Space Party ticket, then tell them that we are all about the human race not being forced to have rectal probes either by Grays or government. Do not condescend or talk down to abductees (or anyone else for that matter) they are off their meds not stupid. They can detect your bad attitude so don;t have one. Treat them with the courtesy and kindness that all people deserve.

Make a distinction between abductees and ufologists. They are not the same. The latter may be professionals.

Avoid the ancient astronaut crowd. They may be into New Age cults. That said, New Agers vote tool. So if you find yourself stuck in a conversation with one, they may not care for the party stance on avoiding Worst Contact. They think all extraterrestrials are good and wise by definition. Tell a Native American that the US government has always treated them nicely despite the government's possession of superior firepower. Superior technology simply means you can bully have-nots around.

Draw a distinction between those who want "Space Brothers" to come and solve all our problems (by exterminating us no doubt) and archaeoastronomers. The latter are scientists interested in the astronomy of past civilizations and their observatories. Von Daniken makes a good point when he says certain earthworks are visible only from the air but his scientific methodology is inadequate.

Have planetarium shows customized or even made from scratch to suit the needs of the Space Party.

Attract blue collar workers because such people are practical and want to know the bottom line of space. Money of course.

But also attract white collar workers because such people will bring the media to heel. We know the media will rip us apart for our platform and response has to be public relations. Polite but firm rubbing their noses in the fact that we have (will have) PhD's and billionaires in our ranks. We will have geniuses and Old Money aristocrats and, more importantly, the people who sign the checks of those reporters who castigate us. We will have the beautiful people and the fashion models but we will have our best speakers to speak for us officially.

We can ignore any hostile bloggers because we can out-blog them.

The way to deal with hostile radio talking heads is to get as many of our people talking intelligently and articulately on the radio as possible. Not just NPR but commercial radio and satellite radio.

We need to win over preachers and televangelists and the super-churches and the Vatican. The way to do that is twofold.

Constantly remind them of the Great Commission. Where does it say in the Bible to limit mission work to humans? People are people even if they are green or Gray or Nords. And even limiting the work to humans, all those colonies will need churches.

Guess what the number one type of space colonization group (SCG) is likely to be? That's right: religious. The colonists who came from Europe to the New World were Puritans, Pilgrims, Anabaptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Sephardic Jews, and Methodists.